Twelve jurors and one alternate juror were sworn in Monday afternoon to hear the week-long trial of Andre Clark Rhoiney Jr., who is charged in the vehicle-to-vehicle shooting death of a man in October 2016 during a road-rage incident.

Rhoiney, 22, of Topeka, is charged with felony first-degree murder in the death of Michael J. Stadler, 28, of Topeka, criminal discharge of a firearm at a vehicle and aggravated assault. All are felonies.

When the trial starts Tuesday, opening statements will be made by prosecution and defense attorneys about what evidence they expect to present to the jurors and alternate during the trial. The alternate hasn’t been designated from among the four men and nine women selected by the attorneys to hear the case.

Earlier on Monday, a military veteran who suffers post-traumatic stress disorder was excused from serving on the murder jury, saying he had a 50-50 chance of experiencing a flashback to his service duties identifying dead soldiers, who were his friends.

"I think it would be in my best interests to not be on the jury," the man said during jury selection.

Defense attorney William Dunn had told prospective jurors some evidence would be graphic.

Dunn asked that the man be released from jury duty, assistant district attorney Kelly Raines-Cunningham didn’t object, and Shawnee County District Judge David Debenham released him.

The trial is expected to last five days. Roughly 80 prospective jurors were in the courtroom on Monday.

In early jury selection, one man was released from service because he anticipated traveling out-of-state on Friday, and a second prospective juror was dismissed because he had to be out of town for work on Wednesday. The judge declined to excuse a retired woman to babysit her two great-grandchildren.

Debenham, who is presiding over the trial, bound over Rhoiney following a preliminary hearing.

Stadler was a passenger in a van on Oct. 8 when a vehicle-to-vehicle argument exploded into gunfire, and he was shot in the chest.

Co-defendant Daniel Alan Askew twice testified Rhoiney fired two shots into the van Stadler was riding in to scare him.

In the same case, Askew, 27, is charged with interference with a law enforcement officer, obstructing apprehension or prosecution of a person charged with committing a felony, making a criminal threat — all of which are felonies — and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Askew’s case next will be in court on June 22 for a status conference.

Rhoiney, who had arrived at a party on Oct. 8 near S.W. 29th and Burlingame, the intersection where Stadler earlier was mortally wounded, asked partiers if anyone had a police scanner, a witness testified on March 3.

A partier looked at her iPhone, which showed scanner traffic reflecting the report of a shooting. Rhoiney didn’t say anything, the witness said during Rhoiney’s preliminary hearing.

The Topeka Capital-Journal was the only news medium in the courtroom on Monday.

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